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Walkway / Cycleway FAQ's |
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Click here for a map showing the access connections Summary presentation of "Public support, the options and the access connections" The detail regarding the optimal design lanes widths What is the forecast use? Does the walkway/cycleway have the support of the local councils? ARC's Regional Land Transport Committee (Feb 20, 2008):That the Regional Land Transport Committee support the agreement by Transit, the Auckland Regional Council, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, the North Shore City Council and the Auckland City Council to undertake a joint study into the options for walking and cycling across the Waitemata Harbour, including connections to local networks and giving specific consideration to the Cycle Action Auckland “optimum” proposal. ARC's Transport and Urban Development Committee (Dec 5, 2007) "That the Committee support provision for cycling and pedestrians on the North Shore City Council (Dec 4, 2007) "That this Council supports the appropriate modifications to the Auckland Harbour Bridge to support a cycleway and walkway and the costs and feasibility of cycleway/walkway links to the Harbour Bridge be investigated and a report be brought back to this Committee." Auckland City Council's Transport Committee (Dec 13, 2007): "That the Chairman of Transport Committee write to Transit New Zealand advocating for a walkway and cycleway across the Auckland Harbour Bridge." From the minutes of Te Araroa Trust’s February
2008 meeting: Te
Araroa Trust supports Cycle Action
Can it be done? Yes – Transit has commissioned a feasibility study which was completed in July 2006 that confirmed a walkway and cycleway can be added to the clip-on’s by providing the walkway on the outside of the east side and a cycleway on the outside of the west side. In 2007, as part of the project to strengthen the clip-on’s starting in mid 2008, the final design and costing of a walkway / cycleway was completed. What is the cost? There are currently two options on the table – one requires widening the existing clip-on’s and the use of elevators at the northern end. It is costed at $35 to $40 million. The second option is estimated to cost $5 million and fits within the existing clip-on’s, as detailed here and provides a 2.4m walkway / cycleway (one each side along the outside edge of the bridge). Where will the funding come from? Transit has annual budget for walking and cycling projects. Last year Transit had $3 million allocated to walking and cycling - only $1m of this money was spent! Further funding is available from the Auckland Region’s “R” funding which is an existing fuel tax of 5c/litre. It has funds of allocated to cycle and walking which could be used to fund this project. Is this project really a priority for Auckland? Yes, absolutely. Our car dominated transport system is crippling Auckland's economy, which is well known to be under-performing. Aucklanders want a more liveable city which will attract high calibre work force and businesses. Currently Auckland is one of the worst cities to walk in, unsafe for cycling and has very poor public transport. It is a vital connection in the region’s cycling network published by ARTA. Currently 165,000 vehicles per day use the bridge, the walkway / cycleway will provide a quick and convenient alternative means of crossing the harbour.The Harbour Bridge is the most iconic structure in the region, yet it says ‘motor vehicles only!’ This project is an important flagship that demonstrates Auckland is serious about:
Will the walkway /cycleway adversely affect the traffic on the bridge? No, there is no reduction in traffic lanes. Views for motorists will not be affected. In fact, given the potential number of cycling and walking trips at 10,000 per day, motorists can expect to a reduction in motor vehicle traffic on the bridge by 3 to 4% How many people will use it? Based on the usage of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (which is slightly longer), it is forecast that a potential 5,000 cyclists and walkers would use the Auckland Harbour Bridge each day in each direction, representing 2 to 3% of the traffic over the bridge. These figures will grow as oil prices rise and climate change taxes take effect. Isn’t the Auckland Harbour Bridge too steep to cycle up? No, the gradient on the bridge is 5% - easy for anyone of reasonable fitness on a bike with gears. How will Aucklanders access either end of the Bridge? The connections to the Harbour Bridge are quite straight forward. On the Auckland City side there is good access to Westhaven, which connects to Ponsonby and the tank farm development providing direct walking and cycling access to Auckland’s CBD. On the Northcote Point side of the bridge, Transit have designed and costed options for an elevator or ramps to connect to Princes St. North Shore City Council has mapped out potential routes for shared paths to provide connections to Takapuna and beyond. How can we ensure people’s security and safety? Transit already monitors the Auckland Harbour Bridge with camera’s from their Control Centre just north of the Bridge. The walkway / cycleway would have appropriate barriers from the cars traffic and wind. If necessary, access to the walk way and cycle way could be closed in severe weather conditions. Why should we provide access to cyclists who don’t pay fuel tax and vehicle registration fees? Most people who cycle also own cars (98% of Cycle Action Auckland members also own cars) so most cyclists do in fact pay vehicle registration and fuel tax when they do choose to drive. For every Aucklander choosing to cycle, there is one less car creating congestion, carbon and parking problems. But isn’t there another harbour crossing to be built in the future, which could provide for cyclists and pedestrians? If a new bridge is decided for the next crossing, it will take a minimum of 15 years to design, consent and build. We don’t believe Aucklanders should have to wait that long. It is highly likely that the next harbour crossing will be a tunnel (as happened in Sydney), given the requirement to provide rapid public transport from Britomart to North Shore. This means the existing Harbour Bridge will need to be upgraded to provide for cyclists or pedestrians eventually - so why wait?
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